It was a good New Year’s break for the Mat Panthers of Jackson County, as they came home with their first tournament win of the season with a victory over the weekend in the Georgia-Carolina Classic in Hart County.
Jackson County went 5-0 on the weekend to win the tournament, with no team scoring more than 21 points against them.
The Mat Panthers broke 50 in all but one match, that being the final against Banks County when they scored 47.
Individually, Zach Moore went 4-1 on the weekend. Conner Andreason went 2-2. D.J. Ledford went 4-1. Ryan Shekey went 5-0 with three pins. Justin Brewer went 3-1. Tre’ Horton went 4-1. Izzy Carrillo-Garcia went 5-0 with five pins. Daivon Ledford went 2-3. Jamari Davis went 4-1 with three pins. Charles Smothers went 5-0 with three pins. Ryan Howe went 4-0 with four pins. Austin McDonald went 5-0 with three pins. Josh Spanks went 1-2. Cody Atkins went 2-1 with two pins. Anthony Ledford went 1-0. Marvin Ledford went 0-1.
“We really wrestled well,” said coach Jason Powers. “Our lineup is finally where it needs to be. The first match was kind of sluggish, but after that we picked it up and wrestled well the rest of the day.
“We wrestled as a team, that was nice. We didn’t give up very many pins. That’s how we were able to keep the scores low. We only gave up one forfeit all weekend long.”
It was just the kind of win the team wanted as they get ready for the Area Duals this weekend in Oconee County.
Powers said they will just try to keep doing the same thing they’ve been doing going into this weekend.
“It’s completely a different mindset,” he said. “They’re still wresting, but they’re wrestling as a team. You win by bonus points, win by tech, win by fall and not get pinned. Not getting pinned is the key to wining a dual match.”
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
